8. Zbigniew Religa, first cardiologist to perform heart transplant – even with outdated equipment.
Yet another award-winning photograph, this one taken by James Stanfield in 1987 and published in National Geographic. It shows cardiac surgeon, Zbigniew Religa, sitting and monitoring a patient’s vitals, following a successful twenty-three-hour heart transplant operation. In the background his assistant is slumped in the corner, exhausted. Religa had to make do with outdated equipment to perform the transplant as it was conducted during a time of free healthcare in Poland, which had left the health service inadequately funded.
Religa studied medicine in New York and Detroit and later lectured and worked in Warsaw, Poland. He became the first cardiologist to perform a heart transplant in Poland. Religa was considered a pioneer of medical technology and in 1995 he successfully manufactured an artificial valve which he pieced together from human corpses. Following his notable accomplishments achieved in his medical career, Religa switched to a career in politics. He served as a senator for twelve years and then as Poland’s Minister for Health for two years. Religa died in 2009, aged 70.